Gallon Environment Letter – the daily edition – a policy letter from the Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment

President Obama’s State of the Union on energy

President Obama’s State of the Union address was strong on an energy and energy-related environment theme. Key points included:

The development of natural gas will create jobs and power trucks and factories that are cleaner and cheaper, proving that we don’t have to choose between our environment and our economy.

We have a supply of natural gas that can last America nearly 100 years. (Applause.) And my administration will take every possible action to safely develop this energy.

Tonight, I’m directing my administration to open more than 75 percent of our potential offshore oil and gas resources.

I’m requiring all companies that drill for gas on public lands to disclose the chemicals they use. Because America will develop this resource without putting the health and safety of our citizens at risk.

Because of federal investments, renewable energy use has nearly doubled, and thousands of Americans have jobs because of it.

The differences in this chamber [Congress] may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there’s no reason why Congress shouldn’t at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation.

I’m directing my administration to allow the development of clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes.

The Department of Defense, working with us, the world’s largest consumer of energy, will make one of the largest commitments to clean energy in history -– with the Navy purchasing enough capacity to power a quarter of a million homes a year.

The easiest way to save money is to waste less energy. So here’s a proposal: Help manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and give businesses incentives to upgrade their buildings.

Building this new energy future should be just one part of a broader agenda to repair America’s infrastructure. . . . We’ve got . . . a power grid that wastes too much energy . . . .

We’ve subsidized oil companies for a century. That’s long enough. It’s time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that rarely has been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that never has been more promising. Pass clean energy tax credits. Create these jobs.